Barrel raising machine



Y 1933. R. w. M CLENNY ET AL BARREL RAISING MACHINE Filed Dec. 17, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l [hm/7mm y M/Q W 6 6 an Z M W [C W R6 and July 4, 11933. R. w MCCLENNY m AL BARREL RAISING MACHINE Filed Dec. 17. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 44 3'7, 5 31 35 58 28 fr. W I I:

14 15 1 5 rvx m mm 12 Pate nted July 4, 1933 warren STATES r error v ROBERT W. MCCLENNY, OF LEXVISTON, NORTH CAROLINA, AND GUY L. CARPENTER, F BENTON HARBOR, MICHEGAN, ASSIGNOES TO ST. JOSEPH IRON W'ORKS, OF ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN, A CORPQBATION 9F MICHIGAN BARREL RAISING MACHINE Application filed December 17, 1830. Serial No. 502,894.

Our invention relates to apparatus for setting up .and shaping staves in barrel form in preparation for attachment of the barrel hoops and has reference more particularly to devices for locating and holding the staves in flaring relation and to mechanism for contracting the flared end of the stave assembly to receive an end hoop thereon.

The principal objects of our invention are to provide improved apparatus for assembling and shaping staves to form a barrel; to insure positive and uniform contracting of the assembled barrel staves; to provide in proved facilities for locating and holding the staves in flaring relation in preparation for the contracting operation; to employ means for automatically holding the staves against relative displacement between their ends without requiring manipulation by or atten tion of the operator; and in general to pro vide a simple, compact and convenient barrelraising machine.

On the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top View of a machine embodying our improvements and having portions broken away to disclose details of the construction;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the contracting mechanism taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1; I

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the bottom portion of the machine taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 and showing one of the truss ring supporting devices in elevation;

Fig. '5 is an enlarged bottom view of a fragmentary portion of the contracting mechanism;

Fig. 6 is .aside View of the parts whereby the contracting mechanism is operated, and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view of the contracting mechanism looking outwardly from the center of the machine. 7

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral 1 indicates the base of the machine which is provided with sockets 2 for the lower ends of pipe standards 3 which support the frame or housing 4 of the contracting mechanism at a suitable elevation above the base,

said housing being of .a ring-shape with a large central opening which is concentric with a circular guide 5 on the top face of the base 1. This guide 5 which serves to locate and support the lower ends of the barrel 5 staves in circular series within a truss ring 6 in the setting-up operation, is preferably a separate member secured to the base 1 by bolts 7 or in other convenient manner, and said guide 5 has a sloping periphery at 8 for 6 directing the ends of the staves (one of which is indicated at 9 in Fig. 4) down onto the peripheral flange or ledge 10 on which the staves are supported in the assembling of the barrels.

ihe truss ring or hoop 6 which is used to confine the ends of the staves that ordinarily constitute the top end of the barrel, until a permanent hoop is secured thereon (this latter being done in a separate machine) and 7 which is referred to hereinafter as the head truss ring is supported on hooks 11 which are arranged at intervals around the guide member 5, four hooks being shown in the present machine, the base l being provided 7 with openings 12 and the flange 10 with notches 13 at the locations of these hooks to accommodate the ends thereof.

Each hook 11 is supported on a bracket 14 which is secured to the base 1 by bolts 15 8 passing through the open ended slots 16 in the foot portion of the bracket so that these. brackets 14 may be adjusted radially on the base 1, and each hook is secured to the upstanding portion of the respective bracket lat by a bolt 17 engaging through a slot 18 in the hook whereby the angularity and elevation of the hook may be adjusted.

A bilge retaining ring 19 is also provided for holding the staves against relative displacement between their ends and this is loosely supported in notches or corner seats 20 at the upper ends of arms 21 which are mounted on and extend upwardly from the brackets-14:. Each arm 21 is secured to the 9 respective bracket 1% by a bolt 22 engaged through a slot 23 in the lower end of the arm 21 to permit elevational and angular adjust-' ment of the arm on the respective bracket, and for the purpose of facilitating proper 1 angular adjustment of said arm, the latter is provided at its lower end with a laterally extending lug 24 having an adjusting screw 25 threaded therethrongh so that the inner end engages against the bracket 14, a lock nut 26 being provided on this adjusting screw for holding it in the adjusted position.

The contracting mechanism which is carried by the frame or housing 4 comprises a series of arcuate shoes 27 arranged around the central opening of the housing 4 with their ends overlapping as shown in Fig. 5, and adapted to move simultaneously and correspondingly to and from the center of the housing. Each shoe 27 is pivoted at its center on a pivot pin 28 which is secured to and depends from the free end of an arm 29 which extends somewat circumferentially under the frame or housing 4 and is pivoted at its other end to the underside of the housing as indicated at 30, it being understood that a separate arm 29 is provided for each shoe 27.

Disposed outwardly from and substantially in radial alignment with the pins 28 are vertical shafts 31, there being a shaft 31 corresponding to each pin 28 and each shaft is journaled to rotate in the frame 4 and has a disc 32 fixed on the lower end and provided with an eccentric pin 33 connected by a link 34 with the respective pin 28 so that when the shafts 31 and discs 32 are rotated an in-and-out movement of the pins 28 and the shoes 27 thereon occurs, the pivot pins 28 and shoes 27 being guided in their in-andout movement by the respective arms 29 which swing on their pivots 30.

A pinion 44 is fixed on the upper end of each shaft 31 in a recess provided therefor in the top of the frame 4 and all of these :pinions 44 mesh with a gear ring 36 which is mounted to rotate in a circular recess in the shafts 31, however, right of Fig.

.31 and pinion 44 and top of the frame 4 so that rotation of any one of the pinions 44 imparts a corresponding rotation to all the other pinions through the gear ring 36, the meshing relation of the pin ions44 with the gear ring 36 being such that all of the eccentric pins 33 at all times occupy a corresponding position so that the shoes 27 all move correspondingly and in unison to It and from the center of the machine.

All of the shafts 31 with one exception terminate at or below the top of the housing 4 which is provided with a cover plate 37 over the pinions 44 and gear ring 36. One of these which is located at the 1 extends up throughthe cover plate 37 and has a bevel gear 38 fixed on the upper end and meshing with a gear segment 39 which is pivoted at 40 on the side of the housing 4 and provided with a socket 41 for a lever 42 whereby the gear segment 39 is operated. Obviously, when this gear segment is operated by the handle or lever 42, it will rotate the bevel gear 38 and its shaft the rotation of the latter will impart a rotary movement to the gear ring 36 and rotate all of the pinions 44 so that a corresponding in or out movement is impart-ed to all of the shoes 27.

In the operation of this machine the head truss ring 6 is first located in position, and with the bilge retaining ring in its normal position in the seats 20 of the supporting arms 21 and the shoes 27 retracted to their outermost position as shown in fnlllines in Fig. 5, the barrel staves are set up m'th their lower ends resting on the ledge or flange 10 and confined between the periphery of the guide 5 and the head truss ring 6 and in this position said stavcs engage against the bilge retaining ring 19, the proper position of which, a short distance below the center of the barrel has been obtained by adjusting the arms 21 on the brackets 14. After a suiiicicnt number of staves have been located in position to form the barrel, the lever 42 is actuated to operate the contracting mechanism whereupon the shoes 27 which surround the assembled barrel structure adjacent the upper end are moved inwardly simultaneously and correspondingly thereby contracting the upper end of the assembled barrel structure and permitting a hoop to be applied thereon to hold the assembled staves in the contracted form, and in this contracting operation the bilge retaining ring 19 serves to hold the stavcs between their ends against relative displacement, while at the same time the lower ends of the staves are sprung outwardly against the head truss ring or hoop 6 so that the latter engages on the lower ends of the staves and holds the end of the stave assembly in the contracted form. After the hoop has been applied on the upper ends of the staves, the contracting mechanism is relaxed and the assembled staves with the top hoopand the head truss ring 6 thereon are removed from the machine in which operation a slight tappin or pressure on the bilge retaining ring 19 may be required to free it from the stave assembly and return it to its seat at the upper end of the supporting arms 21. Another head truss ring 6 is then placed in position in the machine and the latter is then ready for the assembling of another barrel structure.

In the contracting operation of the machine the shoes 27, by reason of the adjoining ends of adjacent shoes being overlapped are maintained in the proper relative position by their pressure against the series of staves. In order, however, to insure proper relative arrangement of the shoes in the retracted position, each of the swinging arms 29 is provided with a pin 43 which is located so as to be engaged by the overlapped ends of a pair of adjoining shoes 27 in the retracted position and these pins thus serve toclhiane up the shoes in proper circumferential or r. i 1

While we have shown and described our invention in a preferred form, we are aware that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the principles of our invention, the scope ,of which is to be determined by the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with barrel stave holding devices of a plurality of substantially radially movable shoes, a rotary ring and connections through which a corresponding movement is simultaneously imparted to each shoe by the rotary movement of said ring, each shoe being pivotally mounted on a separate circumferentially extending arm and each arm being pivoted to a stationary part of the apparatus.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of an annular frame, a rotar 1 gear ring on the frame, a. plurality of pinions arranged in mesh with the gear ring at intervals around the frame and shoes connected with and operable by the pinions toward and away from the center of the annular frame, each shoe being pivotally mounted at the end of a circumferentially extending arm and each arm being pivoted at its other end'to the frame.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of an annular frame, a plurality of shoes mounted on the frame for movement toward and away from the center of the frame, separate devices at intervals around the frame for actuating said shoes, means for applying power to one of said devices for operating same, and mechanism whereby the operation of said device communicates a corresponding movement to the other devices, each of said shoes being pivoted on a swinging arm and each arm being pivoted to the frame at a point circumfercntially spaced from its respective shoe.

4. In an apparatus of the class described the combination of an annular housing having a rotary gear ring and a plurality of pinions therein, said pinions being at spaced intervals around and in mesh with the gear ring and a series of shoes operable by the pinions toward and away from the center of the annular housing, said shoes being pivoted on circumferentially extending and circumferentially overlapping arms and said arms being pivoted respectively to the frame at circuinferentially spaced points therearound.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of an annular housing having a rotary gear ring and a plurality of pinions therein, said pinions being at spaced intervals around and in mesh with the gear ring, a series of shoes operable by the pinions toward and away from the center of the annular housing, and a plurality of swinging arms pivoted at intervals around the housing for guiding the shoes in their in and out movement.

6. in an apparatus of the class described the combination of an annular frame, a plurality of substantially circumferentially extending and circumferentially overlapping arms pivoted at intervals around the frame, each having a shoe pivoted thereon, and a plurality of simultaneously operable shoe aotua'ting rotary members arranged at intervals around the frame.

7. In an apparatus of the class described the combination of a base, an annular contracting mechanism supported at an elevation above the base, a circular guide on the base, a plurality of upwardly extending brackets arranged at intervals around the guide and a truss ring supporting member pivoted at an elevation on each bracket and terminating at its lower free end in a hook portion opposite the peripheral edge of the circular guide, the pivotal axis of said member being horizontal and permitting swinging of the lower free end of said member toward and away from the peripheral edge of the guide.

ROBERT W. MGGLENNY. GUY L. CARPENTER. 

